A range of events take place on the Princeton University campus before the students head home for their three-week winter break on Friday, December 13. For a complete calendar visit princeton.edu/events. A campus map is available at m.princeton.edu/map/campus.
Reframing History: Nicaragua Revisited, Monday, December 2, 5 to 7 p.m. American photographer Susan Meiselas speaks.
Meiselas is a documentary photographer who has worked in the U.S. and Latin America and has published numerous books of her photography. In 1978 and 1979 Meiselas was in Nicaragua, at the time in the midst of a violent revolution in which the Sandinista National Liberation Front ousted the Somoza dictatorship.
Those photos were incorporated into her 1991 documentary “Pictures from a Revolution,” in which she returned to the people and sites she had visited during the revolution. Thirteen years later she completed her “Reframing History” project, returning to Nicaragua to install mural-sized versions of her original photographs in the places they were first taken.
Sponsored by Wilson College and the Program in Latin American Studies. Free. McCormick 106.
U.S. Premiere Documentary Film Screening on Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Wednesday, December 4, 7 to 8:30 p.m.. Nino Ricci, author of a biography on Pierre Elliott Trudeau and narrator of a new documentary on him, gives a Q&A session.
Pierre Trudeau was a leading figure in Canadian politics from the 1960s through the 1980s, serving as prime minister for more than 15 years. Ricci’s biography, according to the book’s website, takes “a personal look at Trudeau and at the pivotal role he played in the lives of an entire generation of Canadians.” The 28-minute documentary, having its U.S. premiere, revisits Trudeau’s influence.
Ricci, a novelist whose other works include “Lives of the Saints” and “The Origin of Species,” is a visiting professor of Canadian studies at Princeton this semester.
Sponsored by the Program in Canadian Studies. Free. East Pyne 10.
Can We Have Morality Without God?, Saturday, December 7, 3 to 5 p.m. Dan Barker of the Freedom From Religion Foundation gives a lecture.
From what source do humans derive moral values? For many, the answer lies in their religious traditions and belief in a higher power. But what about people who do not believe in God, who do not belong to a religion?
Having been to both ends of the religious spectrum, Dan Barker is uniquely qualified to discuss this issue. After serving as a Christian preacher for 19 years, he publicly declared his atheism in 1984 on a show hosted by Oprah Winfrey. He is now president of a Wisconsin-based nonprofit that advocates for non-theists and the separation of church and state. Barker is also the author of several books on his religious transformation, including most recently “The Good Atheist: Living a Purpose-Filled Life Without God,” in 2011.
Sponsored by the Society of Humanists. Free. McCormick 101.
Frankenstein, Thursday through Saturday, December 5 to 7, and Tuesday, December 10, 8 p.m.
R.N. Sandberg, a lecturer in the Program in Theater, presents his new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic tale of a man and the monster he created. The production is directed by Kanoa Mulling, a member of the Class of 2015.
Sandberg’s other works include “Roundelay,” a comedy that had its world premiere at Trenton’s Passage Theater earlier this year. He teaches playwriting at Princeton and has had his works produced nationally and internationally.
Presented by Theatre Intime. $12. Hamilton-Murray Theater.
In Brief
Gary Bass’ “Blood Telegram,” Tuesday, December 3, 4:30 to 6 p.m.
The Princeton politics professor presents his latest book, “Blood Telegram,” which was published in September. A book signing and reception follow. In the book Bass chronicles the roles of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in the activities in Bangladesh in 1971 that resulted in a war between India and Pakistan. Free. Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.
Community Messiah Sing, Monday, December 9, 7:30 to 9 p.m.
The community is invited to listen and sing along to Handel’s Messiah. Accompaniment will be provided on strings, organ and trumpet. Scores will be provided. $5. Princeton University Chapel.
